Tales from the Trails: Ultra Trail de les Fonts

Towards the end of any running season my mind inevitably begins to ponder what next. 2014 was no exception. With the hope of getting an entry for the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) and getting picked for the World Ultra trail Champs, I knew I'd need to get some serious climb in my legs to be fit for these races. The UTMB has 10, 000m of climb and the trail champs has 5,800m. With this in mind I was keen to find an early season race with some decent climb. Due to the weather ultra races with large amounts of ascent in the UK tend to take place in the warmer summer months so I began to look abroad for something to catch my eye. After a quick search in the list of UTMB qualifying races I found the Ultra Trail de les Fonts (UTLF) The race actually consists of three stages, but you can enter each stage individually. I felt I wanted to keep my training more specific to my goals later in the season which were all single stage so I opted for day two 73k with 4,500m of climb.

By the time the race came around I had found out that sadly I had missed out on selection for the World Ultra Trail champs but I had been successful in my UTMB application, so the UTLF would be a great chance to start the season with some climb.
I had a few reservations before heading out to this race. My main concerns being based around the fact that although the race has been running for 4 years the vast majority of the field are Spanish or Catalan so the website at that time wasn't even translated into English (it is now). I have a few more words in my Spanish vocab than "dos cerveza por favor" but I suspected that a race briefing in another language may be a bit beyond me and saying " I'm running an ultra and have lost the trail can you point me in the right direction" in Spanish may also exceed my basic vernacular. I was also heading out on my own so support crew on hand to keep tabs on me on route or post race. Having said that these aspects made the whole thing a bit more of an adventure, I couldn't wait.
In the end, last minute my cousin who was on holiday in the south of Spain at the time decided to come up to support me, which made me look forward to the weekend even more.

Xerta

The race starts in a small town called Xerta about 2 hours south of Barcelona. I arrived late afternoon on the Friday and shortly after met Jon (my cousin). One purpose of his trip was to do some filming of the area and the race so we went off exploring and checked out some of the stunning local scenery around the course.

As night fell we headed back to race HQ to register and get some food. As we arrived the runners doing the first stage were preparing to head off. It was time to see how my Spanish was going to hold up. I went to the registration desk and in my best Spanish said my name and that I wanted to register. In response Raquel one of the organisers who I'd emailed prior to the race shouted over "are you Matt?" She introduced me to Karim the race director and between the two of them they answered all the questions I had about the race. Their enthusiasm and helpfulness was just a taste of the weekend to come.
We set up our tents grabbed some food and tried to get some sleep. Not easy when you are camping 20m from the race finish and the finishers of stage one were coming in until well after midnight.
At 5am the next morning it seemed strange putting suncream on in the dark and the temperature only a few degrees.

The start, game time!

After the usual pre race rituals the race started at 6am. Not long before the race I had invested in a new head torch and it was soon put to good use. Within minutes we went from tarmac to land rover track to technical single track. The extra light was invaluable on the rocky trail. With a few hundred other runners in hot pursuit I followed the leaders up and onto the side of an irrigation channel. Soon we were leap frogging from wall to wall trying to avoid trees, rocks and loose ground. All a bit disconcerting when the wall was only 12inches wide and frequent gorges meant a hefty drop if you missed a step. I found myself wondering what I had got myself into if this was the first few miles!

Lots of fun in the dark!

As we approached the first check point in Pauls the sun was coming up and it was nice be able to relax a bit and not focus quite so hard on the terrain underfoot. Coming into the check point a few of the volunteers I had met the night before shouted my name, as always little thing like this lift your spirits. They must also have told a local ex pat living in the area I was running as he came up to me at the check point to offer his help. I left the check point feeling good and began the first for four big climbs during the race, 700m in about 5k. Before the race I had been a bit concerned about navigating my way around the 73k course, but as time went on it was clear the team had done an excellent job at marking the course with red and white tape popping up at reassuringly regular intervals. At the top of the first climb I was again lifted by the sight of Jon who had manged to hitch a lift up the mountain with some of the marshals.

Heading off for a nice 500m of step decent we headed for the village of Prat le Compt.
Unlike other races I have done this race was really making the best of the single track trail in the area and time on road/land rover track was very minimal. Having said that as we left Prat Le Compt we headed out along a land rover track taking us through some local orchards. I think they were apricots and being March the trees were just coming into bloom and the sight and smell of the vast fields of blossom was unforgettable.

View from Tossal El Grillo

The next climb was again about 600m in about 5k, hitting the climb I decided to try out the new hiking poles I had bought before the race. In the UK poles are generally not allowed in races, but on the continent a lot of runners use them especially in longer races. I wanted to give them a go to see if I might use them at the UTMB. On the climb they undoubtedly helped give a little more drive and in my mind physiologically they make sense as you are in a more upright position allowing better lung expansion than bending forwards which is typical on steep ascents. There was a few areas where I needed to scramble and they did get in the way at these points. Strapping them to my back pack on the go took a bit of practise but overall I was glad to have them. At the summit of the next climb Tossal El Grillo,

That's me in the orange on Tossal El Grillo

the views were stunning. The trail emerged onto a ridge with a panoramic view over the area awesome enough to distract me from the fact I had just put my hand in a spiky beast of a cactus.
Once again Jon had been kindly ferried to the next checkpoint. A quick hello, a smile for the camera and a top up of fluid and then another 500m descent awaited.

As I descended 40k into the race I began to feel a bit hungry, the gels and bars weren't quite cutting it. I was looking forward to the next check point. When I arrived they had sandwiches with cheese and cured ham. I inhaled one, it tasted like the best sandwich I had ever eaten. Knowing I had another big climb to come and the pace wouldn't be too fast I risked another. I knew from my experience at Tranvulcania last year that it was worth spending a minute or two extra at the check point to make sure I didn't run out of energy later. Fuelled up I headed to the third big climb of the day up to the highest point of the course, yet another 600m of climb within 5k. Once at the top the legs didn't have much respite before the steep descent to Alfara. The trail was beautiful, rocky technical single track and normally I would love this sort of terrain, but by this stage I've got to admit I would have loved a gentle grassy slope. On leaving Alfara I was beginning to felt pretty wrecked, it was getting very hot and I had flash backs to my DNF at Transvulcania. I briefly worried I might not make the end, but I cast this thought quickly from my head.

Getting hot.

There was only one last 500m climb to go, I just had to keep moving forward. I tried to get into a rhythm with the poles, clickity click I headed for Coll de Pauls. When I reached the top all that stood between the summit and the finish line was 10k, one final aid station and 800m of descent. I was on the home straight and pushed on. Coming into the final check point I was given another lift as Jon had once again managed to magic his way up the hill. Just under 400m of descent to go. The end was in sight shortly after the check point. I headed down the track and soon come to some tarmac. I thought that was it, a road to take me to the finish but no sooner had I hit it I was off it again. It truly was a proper trail race.

I eventually crossed the finish line in 9h17 in 17th position. The race was won by Joan Salamana Maresma in 7h44.

The finish

After a quick freshen up we tried to get something to eat, but feeling quite nauseous I pretty much gave up after pushing some pasta around my plate for half and hour keeping a bin in close proximity just in case. Hot chocolate seemed to be the only think I could stomach. A bit later after a lie down I managed to eat a bit more and Jon and I celebrated with a whole beer each, watched some of the other finishers before I crawled back to my tent for the night.

I went out to this race with no real expectations as to how I'd perform. My main goals were to explore another part of the world I had not been to , have a bit of an adventure and get an early season race under my belt with lots of climb. As it turned out this was all realised and much more. The race was amazing. The course was tough, had incredible scenery, fantastic check points and was flawlessly marked. The race team were fantastic to both Jon and I throughout right from the race director to the kitchen staff. I spoke to Karim (Race Director) after the race and asked him what his plans were for the race. It has been running for 5 years now and this year had sold out in a matter of days. I asked were his plans to grow the race more. In response he said "no 300 is the limit so that I can maintain the quality for all the runners". It's a great attitude to have and I for one couldn't recommend the race highly enough.

Over and about the race itself I also got to spend some quality time with Jon my cousin and share with him some of what I love about this sport. It again emphasised how lucky I am to have family and friends who support me and take an interest in what I do. It makes all the difference!!